He is transformed by his remarkable old tutor into various animals so that he may experience life from all points of view. Under the wise guidance of Merlin, the all-powerful magician for whom life progresses backward, the king-to-be becomes expert in falconry, jousting, hunting, and swordplay. Growing up in a colorful world peopled by knights in armor and fair damsels, foul monsters and evil witches, young Arthur slowly learns the code of the gentleman. However, it makes no attempt at consistent historical accuracy, and incorporates some obvious anachronisms. The setting is loosely based on Medieval England, and in places it incorporates White's considerable knowledge of medieval culture (e.g., hunting, falconry and jousting).
Merlyn magically turns him into various animals at times, and he also has more human adventures.
The premise is that Arthur's youth, not dealt with in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (1485), was a time when he was tutored by Merlyn to prepare him for the use of power and royal life. In 2014, The Sword in the Stone was awarded the Retro-Hugo Award for Best Novel for 1939. Time included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time. Walt Disney Productions adapted the story to an animated film, and the BBC adapted it to radio. A fantasy of the boyhood of King Arthur (in the story an orphan named Wart who draws the sword from a stone to discover his true identity), it is a sui generis work which combines elements of legend, history, fantasy and comedy. First published by Collins in the United Kingdom as a stand-alone work, it later became the first part of a tetralogy, The Once and Future King.
The Sword in the Stone is a 1938 novel by British writer T.
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